![]() ![]() But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ.” For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. “But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. Paul mentions not once but twice in 1 Corinthians 15:20-23 that this is a foreshadowing of Yeshua’s resurrection: Also, the waving of the barley is required along with other animal, grain and new wine offerings listed in Leviticus 23, called the Firstfruits. This is a very good description of Yeshua’s saving work when he died and rose again during Passover. What I find interesting as well is that if you look through the Bible at every time barley is mentioned, it is in the context of victory and/or provision. For forty of those fifty carefully counted days, Yeshua was walking around, hanging out with friends, eating with them, talking with them, freaking them out from time to time. He was crucified at Passover, and raised on the morning of the third day which is when the counting starts, and ascended ten days before the Holy Spirit was poured out at the feast of Weeks. But do you realise that this is the length of time between the resurrection and the day that God poured out his Holy Spirit at Pentecost, the Feast of Weeks? So God has given the Jewish people an internal clock and a good sense of this time frame. So the instruction is to wave an omer, or a sheaf of barley before the Lord, and then count seven weeks until the wheat harvest has ripened, and the feast of Weeks arrives. Sometimes an omer is translated as sheaf, since it is about the amount of barley or grains that you would need to bundle into a sheaf. An omer is a unit of measurement and is about three and a half litres, or just over fifteen cups of dry commodities. ![]() Quite a long time really.Īnd what is an omer? You might well ask. It’s a bit like having an advent calendar, but with no chocolate… and double the time. I have an Orthodox Jewish friend and her father calls her every day at this time of year to remind her where they are up to in “the counting”. Just as any woman who has given birth knows exactly how long nine months feels, the Jewish people know exactly how long it feels from Passover until the feast of Weeks (called the feast of Shavuot in Hebrew, which means weeks, also known as Pentecost because of the 50 days) because they have to count the days off every year. Then you shall present a grain offering of new grain to the Lord.” (verses 15-16) ![]() You shall count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath. OMER DEFINITION FULL“You shall count seven full weeks from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering. OMER DEFINITION HOW TOIn Leviticus 23, the chapter in which God lays down the law on how to celebrate all the feasts, he says this: 40 days! Do you know how long that is? The Jewish people would have a good sense of how long that is, because it falls in their time of Counting the Omer for the 50 days between Passover and Pentecost. Yeshua walked the earth for 40 days after coming back to life. I am talking about the Biblical tradition of “Counting the Omer”. God, unsurprisingly, is aware of this phenomenon, and has capitalised on it to drive a powerful truth home. They say “a watched pot never boils” meaning that the more we pay attention to the time, the more conscious we are of it going slowly. Have you ever counted the days till an event you’re excited about? Time can go so slowly when you’re watching it. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |